


Temporary Fix

by Feygoblin



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Family Bonding, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mostly Fluff, VERY mild mentions of transphobia, post lgd, trans gay drake mallard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27682955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feygoblin/pseuds/Feygoblin
Summary: After four months of official searching, there's still no sign of Dr. Waddlemeyer. But Gosalyn hasn't given up on family, not yet.
Relationships: Drake Mallard & Gosalyn Mallard, Drake Mallard/Launchpad McQuack, Gosalyn Mallard & Launchpad McQuack, mallard mcquack family - Relationship
Comments: 11
Kudos: 113





	Temporary Fix

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Uhh first fic published in years? Sorry I'm a bit rusty! I wrote this because I wanted to expand on the Mallard-McQuack family Dynamic! I meant to focus on Drakepad a lot more, but I hope it's still cute! If you have any questions or anything you can find me on twitter @ Feygoblin! :3 I hope you like it!

St. Canard was a thick purple and grey mass of urban sterility against the vivid pink and yellow of the dawn; which, like every morning, was the first sign of the city’s nightly chaos once again coming to an end. The second sign- which was almost as religiously scheduled as the rise and fall of the sun itself, was the dull roar of the Ratcatcher puttering into Darkwing Tower. Gosalyn would always hop out of the motorcycle first- arms flailing in excitement from the nightly adventure, and Drake would follow- always sore and bruised, but not injured enough to forget to fuss over Gosalyn to check for injuries. Launchpad would always slide out last, half out of tiredness, and half because he liked to watch them for a moment, out of fondness.They had all gotten into a comfortable routine, although the reason for them being together made the length of time bittersweet. It had been nearly four months since Gosalyn’s arrival, and though everyone was used to it, every morning without news of Gosalyn’s grandfather was still a punch to the gut. She was a strong kid, and her trust in the both of them was growing. So when Drake said they wouldn’t stop searching for Dr. Waddlemeyer until he was found, her anxieties lessened. Every seemingly lost day didn’t seem to hit her as hard, because she knew Launchpad and Drake were going to find him, eventually.

But something else was bothering her recently. It wasn’t the absence of her grandfather that was making her feel lonely. It was a feeling she couldn’t fully connect with yet or even identify. This was one of those mornings that seemed so normal, but that normalcy was ...unnerving.

“ Wasn’t it super cool how I crashed through that window?! That robber guy’s face was priceless!” Gosalyn exclaimed, and as soon as the Ratcatcher was parked she was jumping out, starting to reach for her helmet to toss it away.

“It was pretty cool how you did it head first.” Launchpad remarked warmly, busy checking the motorcycle for “post crash symptoms” as he liked to call it.

“Cool and _dangerous_ . you’re lucky you had a helmet on- Ah! Don’t take that off just yet” Drake chided, and though he was proud of her he was preoccupied with damage control. She gave him a confused look, hands still on the straps to her helmet.

“What? Not like my brain’s gonna leak out…” She grumbled, crossing her arms in a pout as he knelt down and started to unlatch the helmet and gently take it off.

“No-But glass might. I’m just going to check to see if there’s any glass in your hair- just in case. Getting dangerous is fun until you wake up with blood all over you.” He said, setting the helmet aside to beckon her to the couch. It was probably a good thing he didn’t see her eyes light up at the possibility of waking up drenched entirely in blood like she was in a horror movie. She couldn’t help that Drake made it sound a lot cooler than it was.

Gosalyn followed Drake to the couch, plopping in front of him on the floor as she reached for her phone. His Darkwing persona was gone at this point, and though he still wore the mask and the band aides on his face, all Gosalyn saw was Drake Mallard. Not the cool, accident prone superhero- but the nerdy, accident prone regular guy who really liked safety more than he let on. This wasn’t the first time he sat her down in front of the couch to look her over- actually, the first time was because she and Dewey were camping and forgot bug spray. She thought getting ticks wasn’t a big deal, but Drake made a whole show about Lyme disease and screamed every time he found one on her. She snickered at the thought, and he paused in the middle of undoing her ponytail, fishtail comb in his mouth with an incredulous expression.

“What?” he mumbled, starting to comb through her hair. Usually she’d protest and tell him she could do it herself, but she actually liked the attention. Also, why do it herself when she could let him do it while she texted the kid’s groupchat about how she crashed through a window and took out a guy mid fall? Also, it was comforting. In a weird way.

“Remember that time me and the Duck kids went camping?” She asked, elbows propped on her knees as she tapped away at her phone.

“Depends- the time you put Louie’s blow-up mattress in the river or the time you convinced Webby I was a spy and she trapped me in a sleeping bag? Because I don’t really remember much from that one” Drake laughed, though he was sidetracked with getting the small pieces of glass from gosalyn’s curly hair. 

“Nuh uh, neither of those. This one!” She exclaimed, showing him a picture of a very muddy Dewey, Gos, and Launchpad who decided to go “Snipe hunting” after it rained heavily. All were smiles, though they looked tired and attacked by all nature threw at them.

“Ahh, that one. You all got ticks and Launchpad was covered in poison oak.” He dismissed, and Gosalyn’s shoulders sagged a little at his tone. Drake noticed and was about to comment, when a thunk and an ‘ow!’ made Drake look up.

Launchpad had risen from under the Ratcatcher as he heard his name, but promptly hit his head on the vehicle. Despite the momentary hurt, he popped up, giving Drake a quizzical expression.

“Launchpad what?” LP asked, suddenly less interested in his repairs as he sauntered over to the couch, sitting beside Gosalyn on the floor with a plop as she showed him the picture.

“We were talking about Gos’ camping trips.” Drake said, suddenly getting more interested in the conversation- though he was nearly done with his task.

“Ahh, that one! That was our first camping trip all together, right?” he beamed, and Drake smiled, a fondness for his friend’s enthusiasm causing a soft pink color in his cheeks.

“Yeah.. I don’t think Drake had fun though. I guess it wasn’t as cool as I remembered.” Gos mumbled, and the change in mood caused LP and Drake to look at eachother with parental concern.

“What do you mean? I had lots of fun! I mean, sure- the poison oak and the mosquitos and the run in with a bear were a bit painful- but that’s, what? A casual day, for me, right?” He asked, his nervousness settling into the form of restless hands.

“Don’t worry Gos- Drake had tons of fun- he kept telling me how proud he was of you beating Webby and Dewey in soccer. Just the Mallard-McQuack way, right Drake?” he asked cheerily, and Drake’s face went red with embarrassment as Gosalyn’s head popped up at the comment. Drake couldn’t see the confused, anxious expression on her face- but he could definitely imagine it. That was.. Somehow worse.

_“Mallard-McQuack?”_ She repeated, though this time she was giving Launchpad a humored smirk as Drake’s hands started to nervously braid her hair out of habit.

“Mallard McQuack _Waddlemeyer_ \- just a team name. You know, because we’re a… a team” he said shakily, which caused Launchpad to tilt his head at his friend, about to ask why he didn’t just say family, when Gosalyn realized Drake was doing something to her hair that wasn’t just ‘checking for glass.'

“What’re you doing?” She asked, and Drake looked down, finding that he had braided Gosalyn’s hair into a single, simple french braid.

“Oh! Uh, sorry-” he started as Gosalyn turned on her phone camera and faced it towards her, taking a peek at what Drake was doing.

_“Woaah Keen geeaaar!_ I look Fancy! Like a viking or something! Drake, where’d you learn to do that!?” She asked- her previous, and albeit brief, moment of sadness completely washed away. She turned to face towards him, sitting expectantly. Launchpad was also curious, and leaned into the couch with his elbow propping head head up. The sudden attention at first made Drake nervous, but he grinned,shrugging his shoulders dismissively.

“Ah, you know, I spent years perfecting the art. I used to braid the other kids’ hair for band practice, Scouts, theatre, you name it! My uh…” He suddenly deflated in his story for a moment, but cast them both a weary smile.

“My mom taught me, actually. Before, well, before things got complicated. Before I started cutting my hair short and, being more, well, like me- she’d always take time so we could practice braiding each other’s hair. Her, well- her reason’s weren’t so great, because to her it was a gendered thing so I had to learn it, but.. Before I knew all that, it was fun. We’d usually put on a movie and it was a whole uh.. family thing.” He said quietly, his eyes cast to the floor, hands now nervously clasped together as he leaned forward, a bit lost in thought for a second. They all went quiet for a moment- and Launchpad, ever the comfort for Drake, gently took his hands and clasped them with his own. They shared a look Gosalyn couldn’t quite catch. She was formulating something in her mind. Mulling it over bit by bit.

“Can you teach me?” She asked suddenly, her tone excited but hiding a desperate want for something in what Drake said. Maybe it wasn’t actually the skill she wanted, but the time it took. Her question caused Drake to break away from Launchpad, though the two were never truly that far apart when it came to seating arrangements.

“Huh? You sure? I didn’t think you’d be into that kind of thing- and besides, I’m not the best teacher..”He started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, his other hand flapping the way it did when he was being bashful.

“Lucky for you I’m a GREAT learner!” She said, grin as wide as it could be now. Drake blinked once and laughed at her excitement. Launchpad clasped his hands together with an excited ‘EEEEE’.

“Oh! I call for being the test dummy! Me and Loopy used to do this when we were kids- though, the first time I had to shave my head because she tried to use gum instead of a ponytail holder…” he said, suddenly realizing after 20 plus years his sister probably did it on purpose.

Gos excitedly climbed up on the couch, her and Launchpad mirroring the position her and Drake were recently in. They both looked at Drake expectantly.  
Drake couldn’t help but take a good moment to take it in. There was something special about this. About turning something that meant so much to him a long time ago, that was related to so much hurt and growing pains, into something new.

He wanted them both to stay. He was selfish to take them both from their families all because Drake didn’t have one of his own. Gosalyn would leave after they found Dr. Waddlemeyer, and Launchpad left every morning to go to his family back in Duckburg. It hurt to say goodbye, but this fleeting moment in the early light of the morning- he could at least have a moment to look back on.

“You ready?” He grinned, tossing Gosalyn the comb. She of course caught it, beaming back at him with all the brightness she shone with daily.

“Always!”She said, determination in her eyes.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, so it had maybe taken about 12 tries, 2 combs, and 1 hour later, but Gosalyn finally made a braid she was finally... Okay with. It was lopsided, but Launchpad and Drake were as enthusiastic as ever. 

“You didn’t tell me it’d be haard!” She complained, but it was good natured- Drake teaching her was actually really fun. Irritating at times because he liked to SHOW a lot and not just TELL, but eventually, they got into it, laughing together in the makeshift living room in the comically huge superhero hideout.

“Oh, I haven’t even shown you a complex one. That’s one only I can do… for now.” He winked, and Gosalyn was busy taking pictures of her handiwork when Launchpad’s phone started to ring, sending them into a moment of silence, looking at it with a sudden realization that their bonding moment had to end.

Launchpad started to reach for his phone, and Gosalyn saw the look on Drake’s expression fall immediately. In the spur of the moment, Gosalyn didn’t realize she didn’t just get her headstrong personality from her temporary caregiver and mentor, but her selfishness too. She didn’t want this to end.

“Wait, Launchpad!” She yelled, flying at him, causing him to startle and nearly drop the phone from his hands.

“Buh?” He asked, startled. Gosalyn finally got the chance to really look at him- he looked exhausted and silly, with his hair in two pigtail braids with brightly colored pink rubber bands holding them together.

“I, uhh, you look really tired. I don’t think you should go to work today…”She said, but she was embarrassed as soon as she said it. He hesitated for a moment, looking at her, then letting his gaze drift towards Drake.

Whatever he saw on his friend’s face seemed to solidify his decision. He looked at his still-ringing phone with a decisive, hard glance as he answered it and left the living room to meander towards the motorcycle once more. Gosalyn and Drake couldn’t help but listen in.

“Mr. McDee? Heeeey soo, uh, There’s been a thing. Like, superhero business stuff, and I don’t think I can come in today, uhhh, is that alright?” He said, and Drake and Gosalyn gave each other a hopeful look.

“Huh? Oh! Awesome! Yeah, I’ll be back tomorrow, Don’t worry Mr. McDee! Bye!” He said, hanging up the phone and nearly jogging back towards the couch.

“Good news guys, Mr. McDee was super chill about the whole thing! I can stay!” He said, though in the moment, he realized he was waay more exhausted than he originally thought, crashing into the couch, nearly crashing into Drake.

“Woaah LP, okay, so, nap time for you, huh buddy?” Drake laughed warmly, helping Launchpad situate himself better on the couch.

“Nah, I can be awake..I’ve slept less on the ride here..”He protested, and Drake frowned, rolling his eyes.

“Which is why you shouldn’t be awake. We’ll still be here when you wake up bud, you… you gotta take care of yourself too, you know?” Drake murmured softly, helping LP take his jacket off and exchanging it for a blanket over his shoulders. Launchpad seemed like he was going to protest again, but just like that he passed out, snoring heavily, snuggled up into the couch as cozy as he could. Drake suddenly realized he still had his DW hat and mask on and started taking them off quietly, glancing at Launchpad every so often as he set them on the desk by W.A.N.D.A.

“Thank you, for that.” He whispered to Gosalyn, who had been watching him silently the whole time. Something about him without the mask seemed… more vulnerable and open. 

“Things aren’t the same when Launchpad’s gone. You always seem… sadder.” She said, coming up beside him as he sat in the chair in front of W.A.N.D.A. something seemed to be bothering him.

Drake swiveled the chair to look at her, then back at Launchpad, like he was trying to come up with something he wanted to say.

“I can tell you like him!” She blurted out with a smile, hopping up on the desk to swing her legs to and fro.

That certainly got him to react. Drake’s face went red and he suddenly wished he had his mask on. He sputtered, trying to laugh it off- but it was a weird, frantic sound.

“Like Launchpad? No- nooo, he’s just, we’re best buds. He’s always been there for me.” He said nervously, his nervous hand tic starting up again.  
She stared at him with an unfazed expression and he caved with a sigh.

“Yeah, yeah… You’re right. But, I don’t think that it’s gonna work out, Gos. He belongs in Duckburg, I belong here in St. Canard. At the end of all this… we’re gonna head our separate ways. All of this is only temporary.” He muttered, no longer looking at her. 

Gosalyn stiffened, suddenly becoming defensive but she didn’t know why his comment struck a chord in her. Maybe it was because in all of the places she was tossed to after her Grandpa went missing, this one didn’t feel temporary, even though it was the only one that was supposed to be. She gave him a glare.

“Temporary. Hah.” She repeated the word bitterly. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to stifle the tears that stung at them, and she forcefully jumped down from the desk, forcing him to look at her.

He blinked, misunderstanding what she was saying. He suddenly got defensive, standing up, trying not to bristle or raise his voice too much. He whispered, though it sounded more like a hiss.

“Yes, temporary. Because despite what you might think I haven’t stopped looking for Dr. Waddlemeyer. I never will, Gos. Please, I thought you trusted me..” he said, kneeling down to her once more so he could look her in the eyes. 

She suddenly realized why she was so angry. It was hard, as a kid with trauma and abandonment issues to pinpoint what sets her off most of the time. But she realized something, with the quieter moments with Launchpad and Drake, and even with the Duck kids. All the camping trips and the superhero adventures. She would miss... All of it. She’d miss it as much as she misses her grandpa. She balled up her fists and took in a long shaky breathe.

“I do.”She said, releasing the tension in her hands and dropping her head down to stare at the floor. She glared at the ground, trying to direct her frustration to her shoes instead of directing it to Drake- he didn’t deserve that- not really.

“ I know we’re going to find my grandpa. I do. But.. There’s some people I’m never getting back. When I was a baby my parents died. My grandpa is the only family I’ve ever known. I know what having a grandpa is like, and not having him hurts. But I never realized what else I was missing. I didn’t care I didn’t have a mom or a dad because I didn’t think it was important to me.” She mumbled, and suddenly she calmed down, the anger slowly draining out of her.

Drake suddenly stopped being defensive and started to understand, his expression softening exponentially. He sat back in the chair wordlessly when Gosalyn sat on the floor in front of him, absentmindedly picking at the rubber soles of her shoes.

“You said… Things with your family got ‘complicated’. What were they like?” She asked suddenly, and Drake leaned forward, dotingly starting to unbraid her hair, gently letting it down. He exhaled a deep sigh, not realizing he was holding his breath.

“Well… I never had a dad, either. It was just me and my mom, though we were actually pretty well off. We were part of an old, traditional family. But the older I got, the less ‘traditional’ I was. I changed my name, my hair, well, everything I could so I could be more comfortable with how the world saw me, and how I saw myself. My mom… well, she didn’t like that. I was in college when I finally snapped. Cut her off, left, changed my phone number and address, everything. It was hard, and it still is. But knowing that someone you loved unconditionally didn’t treat you the same... Well, it was tough. But I settled in with a family of Geese for a while- though I never really fit in there, either. It was a..” He blanched at the term. “Temporary family.” He mumbled.

“And what about now?” Gosalyn asked, eyes focused on him.

He smiled nervously. “Well… I was never good with temporary family. What about you, Gos?” He laughed, tears prickling at his own eyes. He opened his arms for Gosalyn and she laughed, jumping into his arms and giving him a big hug.

“Wow, I go from being an alleged orphan to having two dads!” She exclaimed, and the chair toppled over and they both screamed, waking up Launchpad who, woke up confused trying looking around with the blanket over his head.

“Wait, Two?!”

“Launchpad, wanna be my second dad?!”

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO I hope you liked it! I finished this at 4 am and I have a covid test in the morning and dnd tonight, haha, whoops! Leave a comment and anything else if you want! Hopefully I'll have more fics in the future? I was going to start off with a HUGE multi chaptered fic but... start small, right? Thanks so much! <3


End file.
